CHAPTER ONE: Getting Ready

There’s more to prepping for your first sailboat charter than you might expect. Terry always told me “bad things happen when you run out of options,” so we tried to envision everything that could go awry and have options to handle any emergency situation. Rogue waves can occur, washing passengers overboard. People have been known to disappear and drown in the time it takes the boat to turn-around, therefore, life-jackets were a must. Not those standard red life-jackets with a single strap and that look totally uncomfortable for extended wear. Instead, we each had top of the line self-inflating Baltic life-jackets. Being out in the Gulf is a different proposition than the relative safety of the NYC harbor. The NYC harbor is surrounded by quick response, highly trained USCG, NYPD, PAPD, and NJPD emergency rescue services. The Gulf is far and away a more hostile environment if you find yourself in the water, and rescue is likely to be measured in hours or days. In addition to the self-inflating life jackets, we had tethers and carabiner clips to ensure that we were always clipped to the boat during rough conditions. This was also to keep Terry from becoming floating shark bait in the Gulf if he lost his footing while I slept, leaving the boat to merrily sail along on her own.

Terry sent me website link after link about supplies to pack, and it was my job to consolidate all of them into lists. I also took it upon myself to make a menu for the week. The thing about cooking on a sailboat is that you have limited space and two gas burners. Simple one-pot meals and snacks were ideal. With me being someone who enjoys healthy, natural, homemade meals, I wanted to make sure we stayed at our best on-board. Fortunately, since I had just completed my first year as a public school teacher in NYC, I became the Queen of quick, simple, healthy meals. My repertoire was perfect for this trip and little did I know that my experience in NYC sized kitchens would be such a benefit when working in the ship’s galley.

We flew into Fort Myers International Airport and stayed at Terry’s mom’s house on Monday, two days before the charter. These two days were helpful because it allowed us to prepare food, check our gear, and gather any missing supplies or things we couldn't fit into our checked luggage. We also benefited from the time to go over our plans and talk over options. Better than doing the prep on board an unknown vessel in an unknown environment. The night before setting off, I cooked a pot of chili and green bean almondine and packed it up into freezer bags. The key to easy sail cooking, I later found, is self-made pre-portioned bags of food you just throw into a pan and heat up. 

      12 hours until our charter!